It Can’t Happen Here

It is very common for humans to say things like “that would never happen to me” and fail to realize just how most of us are just one step from away from what we think can never happen. The readings mostly focus on the idea that Americans believe that their country is safe from all types of Fascism or Communism because of their well-founded institutions and divided political system. Also, they have a belief that America and Americans have a sort of exceptionalism that all other countries in the world lack. It also points out how susceptible democracy is to these candidates. Moreover, it tries to unpack the term populism and put Donald Trump at the starting point in American populism. They are right to suggest that Donald Trump using Steve Brannon’s strategy is the rise of American populism. But I think the idea of populism has been distorted into a buzz term that is branded on political opponents. What I found most interesting how the watering down of terms has been pushed to a breaking point. Words like “racist” or “fascist” have become things that are thrown around so lightly and continuously. Some individuals are no longer fazed by getting these terms launched at them; they even use them as part of their social media personalities. Should we be careful to brand people with such words as populists, fascists, racist, etc.? Have the terms lost their value? Can it ever get its punch back?